


walk the worlds between

by Darth Occlus (NotSummer)



Series: deliverance [14]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Character Death Fix, F/M, First Meetings, Fix-It, Friendship, Friendship at first sight, Major Character Undeath, Time Travel, fuck you filoni, its gay wrath month and canon is mine now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 02:24:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15233292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotSummer/pseuds/Darth%20Occlus
Summary: No more Jedi. No more Order. No more Temple. It was gone, all of it. Her daughter was gone, too, killed by the Empire in its bid to wipe out or control all remaining Force Users.She clenched her fingers, watching the Seppie droids and the stolen Umbaran fighters fight. She was here to prove she could salvage something. To try and tell herself she wasn’t doomed to keep losing.





	walk the worlds between

**Author's Note:**

> If Ezra can tear Ahsoka out of an exploding temple, Miyala can pull Hardcase out of an exploding cruiser.

Miyala shivered. She wasn't cold: in the void of the Shadow Paths, there was no temperature at all. There were echoes, of course, moments where she felt hints of heat and moments where she felt whispers of cold. This place was full of echoes.

She stared into the portal in front of her. She was nearly close enough to touch the surface, which was right where she needed to be. She wasn’t supposed to alter events. She wasn’t supposed to mess with time. The Jedi Shadows had those rules for a reason.

But there were no more Shadows. No more Jedi. No more Order. No more Temple. It was gone, all of it. Her daughter was gone, too, killed by the Empire in its bid to wipe out or control all remaining Force Users.

She clenched her fingers, watching the Seppie droids and the stolen Umbaran fighters fight. She was here to prove she could salvage something. To try and tell herself she wasn’t doomed to keep losing.

The fighters were cornered, and she watched her husband try to fight back. And then she watched a man she’d never met but had heard quite a bit about leap out of his fighter. She kept watching. The cruiser had to blow up, and she readied herself.

She watched her husband leave, still twisting back to keep his brother in his eyes, and then watched Hardcase shove the engine towards the reactor. It hit, and that was when she lunged, reaching through the portal to drag Hardcase back into the Shadow Paths, a direct defiance of everything she had ever been taught.

It was easy.

They landed hard on the walkway, his shoulder smashing into her side as he fell on top of her. He rolled off, staring up and around him, and then scrambled up. “What the kriff is going on?” he asked hoarsely.

She pushed herself up, wincing, and met his gaze. “It’s complicated,” she started. He held a hand out, and she pulled herself up. Her back twinged: she’d fallen hard on her back, and the lightpikes harnessed on her back hadn’t done her any favors.

He spotted the lightpikes as she stretched, and he straightened up. “You’re a Jedi, ma’am? Then this is… some Jedi place?”

“I left,” she said, flicking a glance over her shoulder to watch through the portal the remnants of the supply ship drifting off into the vacuum. She shook her head, distracted, and turned back to Hardcase. “This is what is known to me as the Shadow Paths, but it has many names. Many peoples who have used it. It connects all of space and time through these portals.”

Hardcase nodded, and then looked past her to the portal. “I was supposed to die,” he said finally, “Did you come to save me? And when or where did you come from?” There was a mix of relief and guilt in his expression. It was similar to one Jesse wore at times, and Miyala could see the traces of their close knit friendship on each other.

There was a seriousness to him she hadn’t expected, but ready to die, there was no bravado, no enemies to fight. “Yes,” she said finally. “And it’s been nearly four years since Umbara.”

He crossed his arms. “What happened to Krell and the 501st?”

“Krell was killed, and the 501st…” she trailed off. “I wasn’t there. Jesse would have more information for you. Or Kix.” It wasn’t her story to tell.

“Good,” he said, looking darkly satisfied. “I’m glad he died. And that Kix and Jesse are still around, it sounds like,” he finished, darting a quick glance at her to confirm

“Me too,” Miyala replied, letting a grin cross her face. “From what I’ve heard, Krell was a monster. And yes, I’m happy that Jesse and Kix are still around.”

Hardcase nodded, and then asked, “Who are you? Why come back for me? We’ve never met.” He shifted awkwardly, his eyes flicking away, trying to follow the echoed voices all around them and then back to her.

Miyala gestured for him to walk with her, and started back towards her own entrance. “I’m Miyala, and my husband is your brother, Jesse.” She grinned up at Hardcase. “Hence me being happy he’s stuck around with me.” With the loss of their daughter, they’d both been distant with each other, but the wound was starting to heal. Neither of them wanted to lose their spouse as well, so they’d been working on being more present with each other.

Hardcase laughed, throwing his head back. The boisterousness that had been described to her was beginning to show itself. “Good for him.” Hardcase shook his head fondly. “I’ll be damned. He found someone to put up with him.”

“More like he puts up with me,” Miyala replied dryly, laughing quietly.

“Ah,” Hardcase said, “He’s got a thing about Tw-.” Hardcase snapped his jaw shut, giving her a guilty look. “Well,” he backpedaled, “You’re his type, if I had to guess. Not that he has a type, you know.” His shoulder slumped. “Ignore me, please.”

Miyala did, smirking slightly. She slowed at another portal, and waved her hand at it. “This is our exit.” A dark cave was visible beyond, with snow and ice littering the ground and sides. 

Hardcase shivered. “You couldn’t have picked somewhere warmer?” He rubbed his biceps, clearly anticipating the cold.

Miyala grimaced. “Trust me, I wish. I hate the cold. But the Empire has been keeping an eye on most of the locations I know of that allow us to reach the Shadow Paths.” She glared out into the cold. The Empire knew too many of them, which meant there had to be a Shadow that had turned. She put it out of her mind, swallowing the bitter sense of betrayal.

“The Empire?” Hardcase turned to face her, his brow furrowing.

Miyala’s shoulders slumped. “It’s been a long four years,” she said. “Jesse or I can talk to you about it in a bit. We should… get to the ship.” She stared through the portal, and then stepped through. The crunch of her foot on the snowy cave floor was loud and piercing. She had gotten used to the silence of the void, where all noise was oddly dampened.

Hardcase stepped through, and she closed the portal, moving through the motions as she pulled on the Force, sealing it. She opened her eyes to watch the cave wall glow, and then return to normal, looking like nothing but ancient carvings with no hint of what power it guarded.

“Damn,” he muttered.

She grinned. “I left the Order, but I’ve still got the skills.” She pulled one of the pike staffs on her back out, igniting it. The golden glow lit up the caves around them, and they quickly made their way to the cave entrance. The Bastion’s bulk was visible over the rise, a dark shape against the falling snow. “The storms getting worse,” she called out, “We should hurry.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Hardcase shouted, making himself heard over the howling wind. He started for the ship, Miyala right next to him. She held out her hands to make a barrier, stopping the wind and snow from falling on them, but the drifts were high enough to come up to her waist, and she was struggling through.

Hardcase moved so he was walking in front of her, clearing a path with far more ease than her, and she grinned at him in thanks. Slowly, they made it to the Bastion and Miyala dropped the shield, hurrying into the cover of her ship’s massive metal bulk. She lowered the ramp, and waved Hardcase in before her as she shook off her robes.

Stepping into the entry way, she pulled off her outer robes, leaving her in the far more comfortable ship robes and she closed her eyes for a few beats, enjoying the heated interior. She tossed them onto one of the benches, and grinned as she heard voices filter down the corridor.

Clone voices.

Hardcase looked uncertain all of a sudden, shifting back and forth, and Miyala reached out to grasp his forearm and squeeze it gently, trying to reassure him. She padded down the hall, slipping into the central room where her husband and his brothers were playing Sabacc. Hardcase hovered in the hallway behind her.

She sat down next to Jesse, and he wrapped his arm around her. “Back from your secret ex-Jedi trip?” He leaned down to kiss her cheek, and then added, “You’re just in time to help us catch Echo cheating.”

“I would never,” Echo protested, setting down a perfect hand and pulling the rather full pot over to himself. He smirked as he counted out the credit chips, his brothers protesting. Refocusing the attention on Miyala, Echo asked, “How did your trip go?”

Miyala hesitated, and then leaned back in her chair, calling towards the doorway, “You coming?” The troopers around her looked wary all of a sudden, and Jesse started to ask who she’d brought with her, but Hardcase stepped out.

“Miss me?” he asked, but there was a nervous bravado to it. The statement echoed in the silence that followed.

Kix and Fives and Jesse’s jaws dropped, and the three of the slowly stood, dazed. Jesse’s eyes jerked back from Hardcase to Miyala and then back again, and she put her hand on his, which was gripping her shoulder in an attempt to steady himself. “Not an illusion,” she promised him quietly.

Her gentle tone broke through his shock, and Jesse was the first to rush forwards towards Hardcase, grabbing his once lost brother in a massive hug. Kix and Fives piled on right after him, and Miyala could hear them laughing and crying, and just trying to hold on tight.

Echo hung back, still sitting on the bench watching. He had a soft smile on his face, watching, and then turned back to Miyala. “I had squadmates,” he began, “Is there anyway…” Echo trailed off.

Miyala reached over to grip his hands. “I can make no promises, Echo. But if you tell me more, I will try to save them.”

Echo gripped her hands back. “Hevy died the same way Hardcase did,” he said, “If that helps.”

“It does,” she promised, letting his hands go as Jesse strode over and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist as his kissed her, one arm around her back and the other under her rear.

He pulled back just enough to whisper, his voice cracking, “Thank you.”

She leaned forward, kissing away the tears dripping down his cheeks. “Sorry I didn’t tell you where I was going. I didn’t want to give you hope if I was going to fail.”

He nodded, and replied, his voice thick, “I love you, ner prud’ika.” He set her down, and then wrapped an arm around Hardcase’s shoulders, grinning at his brother.Kix appeared on Hardcase’s other side, saying something quietly enough that Miyala couldn’t hear but had Kix and Hardcase giggling while Jesse glared at them.

Jesse turned to argue back, even as the ghost of a smile appeared on his face, and Miyala chose that moment to slip out and give the brothers some time to themselves. She was nearly to the door when she heard sudden footsteps behind her, and her husband grabbed her waist and whirled her around. “Where are you going?”

“I was going to give you and your brothers some time alone,” she said as his fingers raised to gently caress her cheek. “I was going to head to the cabin. I’m tired as well,” she admitted. It was true enough: opening and closing the portal had sapped much of her strength, and then holding a barrier while struggling through the snow had wiped out most of whatever energy she had left.

“You felt like you were intruding, didn’t you?”

Miyala twitched. Her husband sometimes saw her too clearly.

Jesse shook his head fondly at her, and then looked over at Hardcase. “I’m guessing you’ve spoken with my wife?” He grinned as he called her his wife, lingering on the words with pride and affection as he glanced back down at her. She couldn’t help but smile back up at him, and she missed Hardcase’s answer.

Jesse leaned back down to kiss her, holding her tight, and then released her, whispering, “I’ll thank you later tonight.” His voice took on a suggestive purr, his breath ghosting over her cheek, and she couldn’t help the delighted giggle that bubbled out of her.

“I’ll hold you to that, love,” she promised, grinning. She backed out of the room, giving one last wave to everyone, and grinned all the way up to her cabin, meaning to call Ross.

It had been a dark few months, but for the first time since her daughter had been killed, she felt like the future wasn’t all terrible. She poked at the tiny spark of hope in her chest, and it burned just a little brighter.

She could save someone. She could talk with Echo, and perhaps there were others, too.


End file.
